BEAUMONT, Texas — As eight games remain in the regular season, Lamar University is currently tied for sixth place in the Southland Conference standings.

The Cardinals travel to Northwestern State on Wednesday before returning to McDonald Gym to host East Texas A&M on Saturday.
OFFENSIVE CATALYST: Maja Malinowska reached the 1,000-point milestone this season … Entering the match against Sam Houston needing five points to reach the mark, she recorded 11 points to raise her career total to 1,006 … She currently has 1,157 career points … Malinowska reached the 1,000-career-kill milestone against Northwestern State, finishing with 16 kills to raise her career total to 1,011 … Chelsea Grant was the last Cardinal to surpass the 1,000-kill milestone, recording 1,100 career kills from 2013-16 … Malinowska ranks fifth in the Southland Conference with 254 kills and 290.5 points … Malinowska is second in the conference with 3.53 kills per set and 4.03 points per set … She ranks second on the team with 201 digs … She is also closing in on 1,000 career digs, needing 143 more to reach the milestone … Malinowska has recorded 10 double-doubles this season and 41 in her career.

GETTING RECOGNIZED: Malinowska earned her fifth career Southland Conference Player of the Week honor after being named the league's Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 28 ... She recorded 41 kills, 17 digs, two assists and two service aces across two matches while averaging 5.1 kills per set.

SETTING THINGS UP: Alexa Gonzalez joined the 2,000-assist club, recording 54 assists during the Lamar Invitational to increase her career total to 2,018 … She is the first Cardinal to reach the milestone since Haley Morton, who finished with 2,112 assists from 2015-17 … Gonzalez currently has 2,195 career assists … Gonzalez leads the team with 388 assists and 19 service aces while she ranks third with 130 digs … She is tied for eighth in the conference in service aces and ranks ninth in assists.

PINPOINT SERVICE: Madelynn Coy and Katelyn Hughes are each tied for ninth in the conference with 18 service aces … Hughes also ranks second on the team with 341 assists.

BEST IN BELIZE: Nisaan Martinez ranks second on the team with 239 kills and 52 total blocks …  Martinez ranks seventh in the conference in kills and points with 268 points … She also ranks seventh in the league with 3.72 points per set.

BLOCKING THE OPPOSITION: Saida Maksoud leads the team with 57 total blocks and is 10th in the conference ... She is 10th in the league with 51 block assists … As a team, Lamar ranks fourth in the conference in block assists with 229 and sixth with 144.5 total blocks.

GO, GABBY, GO: Gabby Baker ranks fourth in the Southland Conference with 333 digs and fifth in digs per set with 4.63 … Baker is 65 digs shy of reaching 1,000 for her career … Megan Schwartz is the last Cardinal to record 1,000 career digs, totaling 1,283 from 2010-14.

CONFERENCE OPENER: Lamar's sweep of LSU New Orleans marked the program's first conference-opening victory since Sept. 25, 2018, when the Cardinals defeated Incarnate Word in four sets at home.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Cardinals are looking to secure three consecutive winning seasons at home for the first time since 2008-10 … Lamar has already posted back-to-back winning home campaigns for the first time since 2014-15, compiling a 15-6 record during that span.

GOING THE DISTANCE: Head coach Ariel Apolinario is 8-6 in five-set matches during his three-year career and 13-6 all-time in four-set matches.
1. UT Rio Grande Valley 12-8 (8-1)
    Southeastern 11-11 (8-1)
3. Stephen F. Austin 13-9 (7-2)
    Incarnate Word 9-9 (7-2)
5. A&M-Corpus Christi 7-13 (5-4)
6. Northwestern State 12-12 (4-5)
    McNeese 8-12 (4-5)
    Lamar 7-15 (4-5)
9. East Texas A&M 9-13 (3-6)
10. Nicholls 9-13 (2-7)
11. Houston Christian 4-17 (2-7)
12. LSU New Orleans 2-19 (0-8)   CATCHING UP: Northwestern State finished its nonconference slate with an 8-7 record … The Demons have won two of their last four matches, defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in four sets and sweeping Nicholls.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Elsie Sanchez, So., OH (272 kills) | Olivia Nzioki, Fr., MB (230 kills | 79 total blocks) | Jade Longlad, Sr., S (768 assists | 21 service aces) | Emmarie McFarland, So., UTL (412 digs).

TIES TO LAMAR: Second-year head coach Ben Kaszeta has turned Northwestern State around … After going 1-29 overall in 2025, the Demons are 12-12 and have a chance to post their first winning season since going 19-13 in 2022 … Kaszeta served as an assistant coach at Lamar in 2024.
Lamar vs. Northwestern State: The Cardinals are 28-20 all-time against the Demons since the series began in 1982 … Lamar has swept the past two meetings, in 2024 and 2025, after dropping five straight in the series … Before 2024, Lamar's last victory over Northwestern State came in 2021.   CATCHING UP: The Lions have dropped five of their past six matches, with losses to Southeastern, A&M-Corpus Christi, UTRGV, McNeese and Stephen F. Austin … East Texas A&M snapped a four-match losing streak with a road sweep of Nicholls on Saturday ... The Lions suffered a sweep to Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday night.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Ariana Brown, Sr., OH (285 kills | 34 service aces) | Haley Mullaney, Sr., S (466 assists | 30 service aces) | Sabine Wenzel, Fr., MB (76 total blocks) | Jade Washington, So., DS/L (405 digs).

RECAPPING LAST SEASON: The Lions finished 9-19 overall and 7-9 in conference play to secure the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament.
Lamar vs. East Texas A&M: This marks the seventh meeting between the programs since the series began in 2022 … The all-time series is tied 3-3 … Lamar has won the past two meetings, including a five-set road victory in 2025.